I used to be a young carer, but since I turned 18, I don’t exactly know what I am now.

Since I was a child, I have dedicated much of my time to being a carer for a disabled parent of mine. This often involved guiding them through seas of crowds that a small me couldn’t see over, dealing with the mental stress that comes with having life-changing disabilities and acting as an adult when a child should be having fun.

Throughout secondary school, there were few places to turn. My academy had a designated counsellor for students but the concept of a “young carer” was new to her ears. I often met with the counsellor and explained my situation, but it was always apparent that my school, or any other in fact, had no systems in place for students that had to care full-time for another human being. As I approached my sixth form years, Supporting Carers And Families Together (SCAFT) offered me further counselling sessions for the duties I had at home. However, the sessions were scattered. Sometimes I would have to wait weeks for just another twenty-minute session that felt as though it amounted to nothing. I appreciated their efforts, but it never felt like enough. There was always too much schoolwork, too many responsibilities at home and more than enough hobbies I wanted to fulfil with the little free time I had. Irregular meetings were not enough to resolve those problems.

Throughout my responsibilities as a carer, I wondered if there were others. I quickly found there were. Many of which didn’t even realise they were carers. Discovering this is what inspired me to collaborate with my counsellor. Together we founded a group in which young carers could meet other young carers and receive counselling.

Our meetings were weekly, and we were open to provide support outside of hours. The population of our group soared from just a couple to dozens within weeks and in little time at all, we were the first academy in the county to receive a Young Carers Gold Award. With our award, we were able to grant students more privileges for their disadvantages at home. If you were a carer that needed to dress your parents in the morning, we gifted a pass that allowed them to arrive reasonably late into school. If you were a carer that had to help struggling siblings with further homework, we granted them the privilege to have more time to complete work. Alongside the new advantages, we continued and improved our group sessions with outside guests, such as journalists, who interviewed students and raised awareness online. Within a year, we accomplished this.

Then the 2020 pandemic rolled around. School was shut, communication was cut, and carers attended school from the homes they often enjoyed getting away from. 

During the Summer of 2020, I “passed” my A-Levels and moved on from the sixth form. I haven’t returned to our group since. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, it hasn’t restarted. Now I study at university beyond the age of eighteen, so I am officially no longer a young carer either. By SCAFT’s definitions, I am an “Adult Carer” though this means little as their adult carer service is suspended due to a lack of funding.

As an ex-young carer, I still worry about the present circumstances for current young carers but I worry further about where young carers go once they pass the age of eighteen. I hope once the pandemic is over, support for carers will resume growing.